1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head substrate, a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head that discharges a liquid from a liquid discharge port, and a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head assembly, and preferably, relates to a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head substrate, a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head, and a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following configuration is generally known as an ink jet recording head substrate having an ink supply port and an ink jet recording head containing a channel wall member having an ink channel and an ink discharge port. More specifically, an ink jet recording head in which the ink supply port includes a common ink supply port and an independent ink supply port communicatively connected to the common ink supply port and the ink channel, and the independent ink supply port is formed perpendicularly to a surface of the substrate on which the ink channel is formed. As a method of obtaining a high-definition high-quality image from such an ink jet recording head, the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-137155 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-053979 can be cited.
In an ink jet recording head discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-137155, a plurality of ink channels and a plurality of ink discharge ports are provided on a substrate including an ink discharge energy generation element. An ink channel is provided for one ink discharge port symmetrically communicatively connected thereto, each ink channel is communicatively connected to an independent ink supply port in a direction perpendicular to the ink channel, and the independent ink supply port is communicatively connected to one common ink supply port. The channel communicatively connected to the discharge port is symmetrically arranged and the channel and an independent ink supply port are communicatively connected perpendicularly and therefore, bubbles generated by an ink discharge pressure generation element grow equally on the right and left sides. Accordingly, the direction of ink droplets flying from an orifice surface can stably be kept perpendicular so that an ink jet recording head capable of achieving excellent print quality can be provided.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-137155 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-053979 discussed that an etching mask layer to form a common ink supply port is formed on the rear surface of a substrate and the common ink supply port is formed using the etching mask layer. Subsequently, the etching mask layer is once removed and then, a new etching mask layer is formed in the common ink supply port portion and an independent ink supply port is formed using the new etching mask layer.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-137155 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-053979 discussed that the common ink supply port and the independent ink supply port are formed using different etching mask layers. Thus, formation and peeling processes of the etching mask layer tend to increase and thus, decreasing the number of processes is demanded.
This applies not only to the ink jet recording head, but also other liquid discharge heads. Incidentally, the ink supply port, the common ink supply port, and the independent ink supply port in an ink jet recording head correspond to a liquid supply port and a first portion and a second portion of the liquid supply port in a liquid discharge head, respectively.